Product description

This is a major study of the ideas and practices involved in the making and breaking of peace treaties and truces from Classical Greece to the time of the Crusades. Leading specialists on war and peace in ancient and medieval history examine the creation of peace agreements, and explore the extent to which their terms could be manipulated to serve the interests of one side at the other's expense. The chapters discuss a wide range of uses to which treaties and other peace agreements were put by rulers and military commanders in pursuit of both individual and collective political aims. The book also considers the wider implications of these issues for our understanding of the nature of war and peace in the ancient and medieval periods. This broad-ranging account includes chapters on ancient Persia, the Roman and Byzantine Empires, Anglo-Saxon England and the Vikings.

Author information

Philip de Souza is Lecturer in Classics at University College Dublin. He is the author of several books on ancient history, including Piracy in the Graeco-Roman World (1999), The Peloponnesian War 431-404 BC (2002) and The Greek and Persian Wars 499-386 BC (2003). John France is Professor of History at Swansea University. His many publications on medieval history include Victory in the East: a Military History of the First Crusade (1994) and Western Warfare in the Age of the Crusades 1000-1300 (1999).

Review quote

Review of the hardback: 'An impressive collection.' History Today

Table of contents

1. Introduction Philip de Souza and John France; 2. Making and breaking treaties in the Greek world P. J. Rhodes; 3. War, peace and diplomacy in Graeco-Persian relations from the sixth to the fourth century BC Eduard Rung; 4. Treaties, allies and the Roman conquest of Italy J. W. Rich; 5. Parta victoriis pax: Roman emperors as peacemakers Philip de Souza; 6. Treaty-making in late antiquity A. D. Lee; 7. Byzantine diplomacy: good faith, trust and co-operation in international relations in late antiquity Michael Whitby; 8. Treaties between Byzantium and the Islamic world Catherine Holmes; 9. Siege conventions in Western Europe and the Latin East John France; 10. Paying the Danegeld: Anglo-Saxon peacemaking with Vikings Richard Abels; 11. Peace among equals: twelfth-century European treaties Esther Pascua.